Brackets and plates are often used in the construction industry to couple one member to another member. Brackets and plates may perform an aligning function to ensure the coupled members are appropriately positioned, and may further resist horizontal pivoting between the coupled members.
One prior art plate 100 used in the construction of metal buildings is shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the prior art plate 100 may be used to couple a structural member 200 (e.g., a column) and a structural member 202 (e.g., a rafter). When placed in slots 201, 203 defined by the structural members 200, 200, the prior art plate 100 has proven to be effective in aligning the structural member 200 and the structural member 202, which may greatly reduce the amount of time required to erect a building. In addition, the prior art plate 100 may provide some resistance against the structural member 202 moving in directions 205a, 205b relative to the structural member 200. Nevertheless, the prior art plate 100 may provide little structural support to keep the rafter member 202 from buckling in relation to the column 200 in direction 205, and the prior art plate 100 may provide insufficient resistance against the structural member 202 moving in directions 205a, 206b relative to the structural member 200 unless the prior art plate 100 is unacceptably thick. As the thickness of the prior art plate 100 increases, the weight and cost of the prior art plate 100 increase and the width of the slots 201, 203 must increase.